[wheelswings]

@consularrider 133740 wrote:

…. at least three times….

Be sure to keep track of the precise number of falls during Freezing Saddles! You may be in the running for the London Bridge prize. S/he who topples the most will be the luckiest one. Sort of!

Be safe, everyone.

[wheelswings]

@Kitty 133485 wrote:

I try to avoid any commute through Georgetown via M street on a good day, but right now it seems to be the only connection into the city (from Key). Under best conditions I would only recommend this to a confident (if not foolhardy) cyclist at M street quickly devolves into “Thunderdome.” Based off of yesterday you’d better have a steel spine and think like a Jeep because there is no “shoulder” or room for error.

Kitty – if you’ve not set out yet, I suggest you consider cutting over two blocks north once you’ve crossed Key. N Street NW is a relatively low-volume (but plowed) alternative to M. To me it feels much safer. Like you, I’m not a big fan of M in any conditions.
Be safe. w&w

[wheelswings]

Comparing ninja pedestrians and cyclists with dark-colored cars doesn’t really work ‘cause the cars use headlights and taillights. Still, there is a considerable body of research on different colors of cars, which may apply to riding gear as well.

Yellow and pink are the safest car-colors (but hard to find in this country), and white is also good (except, perhaps, in blizzards), as is silver. Navy and black cars (and clothes) may be ‘cool’ but they are not so safe.

As a cyclist and a driver, I’d say that lights, reflectors, and colors make a huge difference in visibility – for cars, peds, and bikes. I wish that more people realized this. I’ve often wished there were signs at the trailheads urging the use of lights and hi viz at night – even by pedestrians. In my mind it’s not a question of who’s at fault, or of requiring “special uniforms,” but just common sense measures to increase the odds of keeping everyone safe.

[wheelswings]

@Steve O 133293 wrote:

Kitty – please go back and read my tips for riding on ice. You shouldn’t be falling this much if you are using the proper techniques.
Here I am today on an ice-covered street, with wide-ish slicks, riding one-handed while I take my photo.

I’m not showing this to brag, but to make the point that your bike can and will stay up if you let it do so.

Steve O: Did you ride the side roads/hills on Wednesday night? They were ice sheets. I’m all for your tips on technique (though I’ve still got my learner’s permit)… “steady arms–back brake” is my mantra on scary ice-rides, but sometimes the conditions are too slippery even for the most carefully honed ice-dancing techniques, imho. I’m impressed that Kitty made it home with only three falls, given all the ice on those hills. w&w

[wheelswings]

@noodles 133250 wrote:

Just got my stitches out today, and went for a quick seven mile jaunt on the mountain bike (the fat tires and suspension are hand friendly right now). I basically just cruised until the hand started to ache. It’s slowly coming back, and it feel good to be on a bike. I’m hoping to do a road ride this weekend, something simple like Prince William Forest Park. I’ll start with a lap (around 12mi, mostly flat), and if I’m feeling good, I’ll go for another. So, if anyone wants to join in on a slow recovery ride, let me know. 😎

Ha, got your stitches out today and off you go! You sound just like my kid when she broke her sternum on uneven parallel bars a couple years’ back — she got the green light from the docs and we drove straight from hospital to gym to resume the death-defying tricks. (OK, so in our case there was also a parental enabler involved ).

Happy riding. Be safe! w&w (invading your thread from team Cyclo-Paths)

[wheelswings]

I wondered about the snow data too. I looked at that section after riding through the icy snowstorm last Wednesday night. The chart seemed to indicate I’d not ridden in snow (really?! ) Not a big deal… I was just grateful to have made it home.

[wheelswings]

@KWL 132966 wrote:

My boss has already expressed disappointment I didn’t elect to spend the night. I doubt I’ll be leaving work early, so should have a chance to experience the 3 inches of snow and winds on the ride home around 5:00pm.

Whoa whoa whoa…spend TONIGHT at the office? In that case you’d never leave! At least not ‘til next week. Your boss is crazy.

[wheelswings]

Team 12 and friends: We will postpone our Friday night Cap City happy hour due to the impending storm.
Hopefully we can all try and get in some miles before the tempest hits. And after that, we shall see… There is nothing shameful in sleazing!
Be safe, everyone. w&w

[wheelswings]

This icy winter snowstorm offers an opportunity to announce another of the several pointless prizes I plan to award: the prize for the most crashes. We can call it the London Bridge prize, or… for any Bruce fans, the “I’m goin’ down” prize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fdZWbIsrFk

Initially I wanted to offer this prize last winter, but it became painfully apparent that I’d have to award it to myself… how dorky is that?

The thing I’m not sure of is how we’ll know who the winner is this year. What is the best way to keep track of how many times we go down? I don’t know if we’d need a separate thread or if it’s better to add a specific keyword to ride titles… or if we should just rely on self-reporting at the end of the season – crashes are generally engraved quite powerfully in the memory, so I don’t expect anyone will forget.

Be safe, everyone. w&w

[wheelswings]

Yow. Sounds like a strenuous and scary ride, Kitty. I hope you didn’t break anything (though bone bruises are no picnic either…)
The icy hills were freaky in my neighborhood too, especially with the cars spinning out. I ran a couple blocks with my bike as well, mainly to avoid the cars, and I slid about 15 feet but stayed upright (like you I was screaming…. but it wasn’t “weeee”).
Heal fast! Sorry we missed you at Phoenix. w&w

[wheelswings]

Bicycle commuting spans a huge range in terms of effort per mile, with an unloaded, un-pedaled e-assist bike near one end and perhaps Rod’s extreme cargo rides on the other. Nobody calls higher-end road bikes and racing bikes “cheaters” and yet I expect they are advantageous for long distances. My bike is on the heavier end (30 lb mountain trek), though I hope to acquire a bike that’s more toward the fast side of the spectrum when my office moves north next month. I’d agree with the author that you can get a good workout on anything. But it’s not an even playing field. Bicycle commuting was never meant to be.

[wheelswings]

Do others have this problem too? Do you insulate your phones from the cold…and if so, how?
My phone’s been dying when I get to my destination – it shuts down when I try to log into the phone to tell Strava I’ve arrived. I then have to go inside, plug in the phone, and wait for it to warm up again and restart. Only then can I tell Strava I’m at my destination. This is kind of a drag. It affects my times, which I can ignore, but more importantly it would be nice to have the phone working in a chilly emergency.
Is this a familiar problem?

[wheelswings]

Please join Team 12 Cyclo-Paths and friends this Friday night Jan. 22nd at Capitol City Brewery in Shirlington. We’ll be gathering around 6 pm – though earlier or later is fine too, depending on everyone’s schedules. There’s a storm in the forecast, but most likely it won’t hit ‘til later.
Please let us know if you can make it. All teams and friends are welcome.
Hope to see you on Friday evening!

[wheelswings]

My dear fellow Cyclo-Paths and Psychopaths:
Please say hi in our Strava Team 12 chatroom. We’ve not heard a word from half of our teammates. We want to make sure that nobody gets left out of these super-secret and important strategic discussions.
Or at least we’d like to say hi.
Thanks! w&w

[wheelswings]

ooh, I wish I could join you, KWL and snugglefestival. And I wish I could hear bentbike33 playing the cello! I’m tied up this weekend at a gymnastics competition. Hopefully we can arrange something for the next weekend, if that works for any of you…

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